Ricky Schroder got slammed online following his transphobic and anti-vaccine laced tribute to Dolly Parton.
Remembrance after remembrance flooded the internet Tuesday after news that the country music legend had died. Schroder – who played Parton’s father in two TV movies, “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” and “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love” – joined his voice to the many. But he still couldn’t help but point out their political differences in his tribute.
“I didnt [sic] agree with her advocating for Transgender & Covid Vaccine support…but Loved her anyway,” Schroder wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of him and Parton. “Thank you for choosing me Dolly to be your Movie Daddy.”
This led to a number of celebrities calling the “NYPD Blue” star out for feeling the need to mention those things while honoring Parton. Katie Couric, Boy George, and many others heaped on their disgust for the way Schroder chose to honor Parton’s memory.
“Ick,” Couric wrote on Threads.
“Oh shut up,” Boy George responded.
“Ricky, she just died,” Steven Havre added on Threads. “You could have honored her without using her death to remind everyone that you disapproved of her supporting trans people and vaccines. What a s—ty, self-centered tribute.”
Parton died on Tuesday at 80 years old after a “brief battle with cancer,” her reps disclosed following the initial news. While Schroder’s tribute earned the ire of many, there were plenty of celebrities who turned to their own social media to celebrate the country music icon and philanthropist.
“What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong,” Miley Cyrus wrote Wednesday. “I have an angel by my side. I always have.”
She added: “I will always love her and want to make her proud.”
Jane Fonda also paid tribute to Parton, saying that she “just learned” of the passing of her confidant and “9 to 5” co-star.
“I know that millions are mourning and I want to say this – more than anyone I have ever known, Dolly will always be with us because she was so present, so powerful, so generous and playful that she is woven into all our lives and hearts forever,” she wrote in a lengthy Instagram statement. “Let’s be grateful for all that she has left us to ease our sadness now. I never knew anyone like her. She was simultaneously a naughty, playful southern gal from the hollows of Tennessee and a deep, soulful thinker who could see through people right down to their true selves. She was many things…lyricist, songstress, player of many instruments, writer, prankster, visionary, loyal friend, who’d never go to bed before she and her friends had laughed so hard they’d have to cross their legs.”
